<p>Ok, the "fourth wall" is the imaginary wall that separates an audience from a performance. In TV, breaking the fourth wall would be like a character looking into the camera. It breaks his/her fictionality.</p>
<p>In my college essay, would it be bad to mention my college essay?</p>
<p>Here is the line:</p>
<p>(in the context here, "grandpa me" is myself as a grandfather. he is sifting through my teenage life.)</p>
<p>"Grandpa me adjusted his glasses, licked his finger, then flipped through the pages. He went through the academics, the times spent blasting Eminem in the car, and his unusually genuine hunger for improvement at least for teenager-him. </p>
<p>Despite this thick life portfolio, one thing was missing: a kick-ass application essay."</p>
<p>Opinions? This is towards the end of the essay.</p>
<p>It’s fine to mention the essay if you can do it with finesse, but the whole “Grandpa-me / teenager-him” conceit is both unnecessary and grammatically incorrect.</p>
<p>Simplify.</p>
<p>Something like “I imagine my future self…and remembering this moment, when the only thing missing was…” will suffice, and will avoid the trap of leaving your reader with the feeling that he or she is stuck in a bad time travel novel.</p>
<p>Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but- I wouldn’t worry about saying grandpa-me etc. If that’s something you’d say in real life, say it on the essay. It’s worse to risk sounding insincere and like you’re trying too hard- by saying"my future self" - than to risk sounding like, well, an 18 year old. Admissions people get thousands of essays like “my future self.” They do NOT get many with “grandpa-me.” Grandpa me shows your personal voice and your subtle sense of humor. Go with it. </p>
<p>The only thing is, I might take out the “kick-ass” ;)</p>